The Eye of the Beholder
by Ruphira
Summary: On his wedding day, Ivan reflects on his bride's first impression."See what I mean? I think they're lovely too. Here." She stepped towards him to tuck and arrange the mini mint bouquet in his coat pocket. "You shouldn't disregard or underestimate things."


**A/N: Hi! This is just a little wedding oneshot between Ivan and Gretel, whom I've renamed Daphne for the purpose of this story, purely because I think it suits her more. Otherwise, she's the same heroine! This was meant to be a full-fledged fanfic, but I decided it would work out more neatly as a oneshot. Um…anyway, I hope you like it ^^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of these characters! :3 **

"YO BRO, ARE YOU ABOUT READY?"

Ivan cringed and gave one last attempt to tame his hair in the mirror. For some reason, it had decided that today—the most important day of his life so far—was the day to stick out at every angle known to mankind, to fall over his eyes, and to curl annoyingly to one side. He'd tried Dirk's gel, he'd washed it three times and tried drying it three different ways—towel, hairdryer, on its own—to no avail. He was about ready to shave it off, except he was expected to present himself at the square in five minutes to marry _her_.

Dirk ducked his head inside his brother's room. "Yo! Dude, your hair looks fine. You think she'll care anyway? She adores you, so come on! You're going to be late!"

"I know, I know!" he yelled back, getting frustrated. But he knew his brother was right. Sighing, he ran a dampened comb through his hair in a last-ditch effort to make it look presentable, but it only made it look greasy. "Oh, COME ON!"

"YOU come on, I'm already ready!" his little brother shouted back from the living room.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Ivan hollered.

"THEN WHO WERE YOU TALKING TO?"

Ivan ignored the question and hastily did up his tie, straightened his collar, and attempted to flatten his hair (which made it stick up in the back). "Okay, I'm ready!" he called, dashing out of his room.

"Finally!" Dirk got off the couch and ran to the door. "I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to make it."

Ivan skidded to a stop just in front of the door as Dirk burst outside. He was missing something. "Wait."

"Oh Goddess, what NOW?" his brother whined.

The tutor turned on his heel and dashed back to his room, where he rooted desperately through shelves, drawers, books, and chests. He was just getting panicked again when it occurred to him.

He tore the pillows off his bed and found them. The two ancient, dried-out, partially crushed sprigs of mint blossoms. Gingerly he picked them up and tucked them carefully into his pocket. The perfect corsage.

"COOOOMMMEEE ONNNNNNN! EVERYBODY'S ALREADY HERE! SHE'S STANDING AT THE ALTAR—SHE THINKS YOU HAVE COLD FEET—UH OH IVAN, SHE'S LEAVINGGGGG!"

"WHAT?" Ivan bolted for the door and blasted outside, looking towards the square where most of the village had already gathered. "SHE ALREADY LEFT?"

"Just kidding," snickered Dirk. "I thought that would work. Ew, what's with the ugly dead corsage?" he asked, reaching to pluck it out of his brother's pocket. Ivan waved his hand away.

"No! It's special to us."

Dirk raised an eyebrow. "But it's a wee—"

"She'll remember it," Ivan replied, heading to take his place in front of the mayor. Dirk, best man, trailed behind him in confusion.

His heart pounding as he waited for his bride to arrive, Ivan closed his eyes and let the memory of that day wash over him.

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_Ivan straightened and hastily organized the bushel of papers on his desk before sliding them into his briefcase. With effort, he was able to zip up the opening and heave the overstuffed bag over his shoulder. _

"_Morning, Dirk," he called into his brother's room as he passed, heading for the kitchen. There was a snuffle and a loud thunk in reply. "Did you just fall out of bed again..?"_

"_No!" Dirk hopped out of his room on one foot, pulling a sock on the other. "Heyheyhey, didja hear the news?"_

_Ivan closed one eye in thought. "Hrm…you…matched your socks this morning?" He continued on into the kitchen to check the heated kettle._

_Dirk laughed, following him in. "Yeah right! No. Someone moved in."_

_Shocked, Ivan accidentally let his hand hover over the steaming spout. "OUCH! __What__?"_

"_I know!" Dirk replied, sliding into a chair. "Crazy stuff. This place is deader than Halloween Town."_

"_Heh." Ivan poured the boiling water into two bowls of ready-made oatmeal before placing one in front of Dirk and the other at his place._

_Dirk shoveled a heavy spoonful of breakfast into his mouth. "Hey, shouldn't chu beh goingk now?"_

_Ivan shook back his sleeve to get a look at his watch. "Ergh! Yeah. Kay, see you tonight, be good." He ran out of the house, his breakfast untouched._

"_I'M NOT FIVE ANYMORE!" Dirk yelled after him, even though he was aware his brother only added that in to irk him. _

_Ivan jogged briskly through the small family-oriented town and across the bridge. Farther on ahead, he could see Freya making her way towards the field near Angelo's house and the last windmill. He exhaled—he wasn't too late. Yet. Freya usually acted as his time gauge…he knew he was running late if he couldn't see her or if she was too far ahead to catch up to easily. _

_He concentrated on catching up to the girl without getting too much out of breath, as she always had some teasing comment about what his students would think of their tutor rolling out of bed late in the morning. His brow knit in confusion when she stopped by a field and knelt down towards the flowers—it was very unlike the workaholic Freya to randomly stop to sniff the roses in the middle of her morning commute. _

_The tutor slowed to a brisk walk as he neared the flower patch and tried to think of a remark to make to her, but she beat him to the punch._

"_Hey, Ivan!" she called, waving him over. "Come here!"_

What? Does she want to show me a flower? Does she realize what time it is?_ Ivan thought irritably, but advanced toward where she was standing ankle-deep in a bed of wildflowers and herbs._

_Was he ever wrong. "What?" he asked in annoyance, then followed her pointing finger to see a small blonde girl sitting cross-legged in the flowers beside a wide pink hat. He stared at her, and she stared wide-eyed back at him._

_Freya hit him lightly in the shoulder. "What kind of a gentleman are you?" she demanded. "Introduce yourself! We've already met."_

_Ivan blinked and swallowed. The girl had wavy blonde locks that spilled over her shoulder and over her eyes; the tendrils on one side of her face were pinned back loosely with two blue clips, and her hair was adorned with two delicate sprigs of white mint blossoms. One of his personal favourites. She coughed awkwardly and replaced her hat on her head. "Uhm, good morning. You must be the new girl my brother mentioned. I'm Ivan, and I tutor in the city." He stuck out his hand to shake._

_The girl didn't move from her place, but looked up and smiled sunnily at him before shaking his hand. He noticed she had big purple eyes. "Good morning! Yes, I did just move in. I'll be living at the old farm by Lloyd's place, and my name is Daphne."_

_Daphne. A pretty Greek name meaning laurel or bay tree. The myth of the nymph who had been transformed into a laurel tree to disguise herself from Apollo. Ivan smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you. So what're you going to do with all the land the farm came with?"_

_She tilted her head to one side and looked at him, perplexed. "Uh, well, since it's a farm, my plan was to farm on it…"_

_Ivan's eyes boggled. "__By yourself__? That old place is an enormous wreck."_

_Daphne stood up and brushed herself off. "I think it's huge and beautiful and full of potential," she said curtly. Ivan realized he'd touched a nerve and offended her._

"_Uhhr—I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" he trailed off, not sure what to say._

_She shrugged. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say." The new farmer began to pick her way out of the flower patch._

"_Oh—hang on," Freya said, stopping the blonde to pluck the sprigs of mint out of her hair. "You missed some weeds, dear."_

_Ivan looked at her sourly. "They're not weeds. They're pretty and useful as herbs."_

_Daphne smiled at him and tilted her head to the side. "See what I mean? I think they're lovely too. Here." She stepped towards him to tuck and arrange the mini mint bouquet in his coat pocket. "You shouldn't disregard or underestimate things. Well, I'll be off now. Have a good day at work you two!" With that, she turned and skipped away across the bridge. Ivan stared after her, not sure what to think, but he was faintly aware of a blush rising on his cheeks._

"_Hey," Freya said. "Look at the time. We're going to be late! No time to gawk at newcomers!" She grabbed his sleeve and hauled him off down the path. Ivan fingered the sprigs of blossoms in his pocket and the trace of a small smile crossed his serious features._

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Dirk glanced at his brother and then did a double-take when he realized he was off in la-la land. "Knock it off!" he whispered. "She'll show up anytime now."

Ivan shook off the reverie and glued his eyes to the parting in the middle of the crowd where she would soon walk down to meet him. Every day after that, she'd given him mint or chamomile blossoms and tucked them into his pocket before work.

He could feel his heart pounding heavily with nervous excitement mixed with fear that she had found someone better to love, for Goddess knew she could do better. "Shouldn't she be here by now?" he whispered to his brother, who rolled his eyes and shrugged.

Just then, a hush came over the crowed, and Ivan's heart almost stopped completely. A petite blonde figure, her hair in loose curls and garbed in a simple but striking white gown, appeared at the end of the walkway. A sheer, delicate veil was attached to a small tiara that crowned her golden head.

She walked herself down the aisle, all confidence and self-assurance, her eyes never leaving his.

Likewise, he couldn't tear his eyes off her. He'd always thought that she was the most beautiful person in the world, inside and out, but now she was shining brighter than a star. As she stepped up beside him, he noticed for the first time that she carried a small bouquet of chamomile and mint blossoms. He beamed at her, knowing they'd had the same idea.

She beamed back, and leaned in to whisper, "I like your corsage." Her eyes flickered up to his hair, and smiled evilly. "And your hair too. New look?"

"Glad you noticed," he whispered back.

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**A/N: Yeah, it ends kind of abruptly. But did you like it? Either way, please leave me a review if you have time! Thanks so much for reading! ^^**


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